News

The Anderson-DuBose Company, Inc., a leading food service distribution company that serves McDonald’s and Chipotle locations, is investing $60 million in a new facility in Jacksonville to serve more than 300 restaurants in the Southeast.

The project, approved last month by the Jacksonville City Council as Project Bobcat will create 109 high-quality jobs at the company’s new Northwest Jacksonville facility.

“It’s exciting that Anderson-Dubose has chosen Jacksonville for its new storage facility,” said Mayor Donna Deegan. “The minority-owned food storage company is making significant investments into our community with $60 million in funding for the project and a commitment to hire 109 employees with competitive pay and benefits. Anderson-Dubose is continuing a growing trend of companies expanding operations into Jacksonville because we are a fantastic place to do business.”

Anderson-DuBose has provided paper and food supplies to more than 650 McDonald’s restaurants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia for more than 30 years. In 2021, McDonald’s named Anderson-DuBose its U.S. Supplier of the Year.

The Ohio-based distributor is the state’s largest minority-owned business and currently operates warehouses in Lordstown, Ohio, and Rochester, New York.

Anderson-Dubose is purchasing the 33-acre Norfolk Southern-owned site, known as Westlake Site 34B, for the purpose of developing a 160,000-square-foot, rail-served ambient and cold-storage distribution facility that will support McDonald’s restaurants across the Southeast. Westlake Site 34B is one of a few remaining rail-served sites located within the Norfolk Southern-owned Westlake Industrial Park in Jacksonville, Florida. The park is exclusively served by a Norfolk Southern mainline.

“By expanding our footprint into Jacksonville, we can better meet the burgeoning demand for cold and dry food service storage in the Southeast and revolutionize distribution support operations for our valued customers,” Anderson-DuBose Chief Operating Officer Mike Boddy said. “Anderson-DuBose appreciates Norfolk Southern’s commitment to this joint growth opportunity for both of our companies,”

It is also expected to generate more than 160 carloads for Norfolk Southern on an annual basis and marks Anderson-DuBose’s first expansion into the Southeast.

“At Norfolk Southern, we are proud to play a pivotal role in facilitating smart and sustainable growth opportunities for our rail network and our esteemed customers,” said VP Business Development and First and Final Mile Markets Stefan Loeb. “By leveraging our extensive real estate assets, we are not only enhancing our operational capabilities, but we are also fostering economic development in the regions we serve and lowering our national supply chain’s carbon footprint.”

Community-owned utility JEA worked with JAXUSA Partnership to assist the Anderson-DuBose Company, Inc., with their site selection process.  JEA released a statement saying, “This is exciting news for Jacksonville, the city’s job growth and economic development. We’re pleased that The Anderson-Dubose Company has chosen Jacksonville for its new facility, and that we are able to support economic development in the City.”

Anderson-DuBose’s investment in Jacksonville is another example of national corporations choosing Jacksonville to establish a presence in the Southeast.

“Anderson-DuBose is well-known as an incredible place to work and we are proud to help bring more than 100 new sought-after jobs to our community,” JAXUSA Partnership President Aundra Wallace said. “We are strategically located to serve as a Southeastern logistics hub and thank Anderson-DuBose for investing in Jacksonville.”

About Anderson-DuBose

Established in 1991, The Anderson-DuBose Company is a full-service distribution company for major quick service restaurants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York. We currently have two distribution center locations; Lordstown, Ohio (headquarters) and Rochester, New York and are always looking for growth opportunities. (Transportation and Warehouse are the two largest departments at each DC and typically operate 24/7.) We own and operate our own truck fleet, have state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, and consider our employees our greatest assets. We are the proud winners of the NorthCoast 99 Top Employer award nine years in a row and have been voted a Top Workplace in the Northeast Ohio area as well. Most recently we were awarded the 2024 Smart Culture Award. We have also been named as McDonald’s US 2020 Supplier of the Year which is the highest honor we could receive from our customer.

About Norfolk Southern

Since 1827, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) and its predecessor companies have safely moved the goods and materials that drive the U.S. economy. Today, it operates a customer-centric and operations-driven freight transportation network. Committed to furthering sustainability, Norfolk Southern helps its customers avoid approximately 15 million tons of yearly carbon emissions by shipping via rail. Its dedicated team members deliver more than 7 million carloads annually, from agriculture to consumer goods, and Norfolk Southern originates more automotive traffic than any other Class I Railroad. Norfolk Southern also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S. It serves a majority of the country’s population and manufacturing base, with connections to every major container port on the Atlantic coast as well as to major ports in the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes. Learn more by visiting www.NorfolkSouthern.com. Media Inquiries: Media Relations. Investor Inquiries: Luke Nichols, 470-867-4807

About the City of Jacksonville 

The City of Jacksonville is the largest city by land mass in the contiguous United States, serving approximately 900,000 residents. Located in Duval County, City of Jacksonville leadership includes the mayor and a 19-member City Council. To learn more about the City of Jacksonville, visit COJ.net.  

About JEA

JEA is a not-for-profit, community-owned utility that provides safe, reliable and affordable services to more than one million residents across four Northeast Florida counties. JEA is not owned by investors. It was created by the City of Jacksonville to meet the electricity and water needs of those who live in Jacksonville and surrounding communities. JEA’s 2,200+ workforce is dedicated to ensuring the demands of its customers are met, both today and for generations to come, while protecting our precious natural resources and supporting our region’s growth and economic development.

About JAXUSA Partnership

JAXUSA Partnership, a division of JAX Chamber, is Jacksonville’s regional economic development organization. JAXUSA Partnership recruits new companies and expands existing business to increase high-wage job growth, private capital investment and a highly skilled talent presence in Northeast Florida. The organization works with economic development partners in Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns Counties; the independent authorities of JAXPORT, JAA, JEA and JTA; CareerSource Northeast Florida; and private-sector investors in its mission to be a catalyst for regional economic growth.